Gapless heat pipe combination structure and combination method thereof

ABSTRACT

A gapless heat pipe combination structure and a combination method thereof are provided. An open slot being open is formed on a bottom surface of a heat dissipation device, an adhesive layer is disposed on a surface of grooves in the open slot, and a plurality of heat pipes is provided, which are adhered to the surface of the grooves closely through the adhesive layer respectively. A jig is used to press heating segments of the heat pipes at least once, so that the heating segments exposed from the open slot form a plane heating surface, and the heating surface of the heat pipes completely contact with an area of a heat source, thereby improving overall thermal conduction performance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a gapless heat pipe combinationstructure and a combination method thereof, and more particularly to acombination structure that arranges heat pipes closely to combine theheat pipes gaplessly to increase a direct contact area between the heatpipes and a heat source, and a combination method thereof.

2. Related Art

In recent years, with rapid development of an integration process ofsemiconductor devices, the semiconductor devices are increasinglyintegrated. However, the semiconductor device having gradually smallervolume makes a growing heat production, thus requiring higher heatdissipation performance, which becomes a more and more important issueto be solved. In order to meet the requirement, various heat dissipationmanners, such as fan heat dissipation, water cooling assisted heatdissipation, and heat pipe heat dissipation, are widely applied, and acertain heat dissipation effect is achieved.

Two most important heat transfer mechanisms in a radiator are thermalconduction and thermal convection. The thermal conduction refers toenergy exchange between molecules. After contacting with a molecule withmore energy, a molecule with less energy acquires energy (by physicaldirect contact). If no temperature difference between two objects exists(for example, an independent heat sink), thermal conduction cannot berealized. In a conventional radiator, a Thermal Interface Material (TIM)of a high thermal conductivity is usually added between a heat sink anda heat source (a semiconductor integrated device), so that thermalenergy produced by the semiconductor integrated device can be conductedto the heat sink more effectively.

The thermal convection refers to heat transfer realized by motion ofmatter. Thermal energy comes from a heat source surrounded by a gas or aliquid, and the thermal energy is transferred in a radiator by motion ofmolecules. Heat produced by a semiconductor integrated device istransferred into air through a heat sink eventually, and thermal energyis then carried away by a convection phenomenon.

Besides a plurality of heat pipes, a heat pipe heat dissipationapparatus includes a plurality of heat sinks and a fixing seat. The heatsinks are usually made of aluminum or copper. The heat pipe is a metalpipe having two closed ends and filled with a working fluid. The fixingseat is made of aluminum or copper, thereby also being called analuminum base or a copper base.

The heat pipe heat dissipation apparatus is such designed that thefixing seat contacts with a heat dissipation portion of thesemiconductor device, heat of the semiconductor device is firstconducted to the fixing seat, and then the heat is conducted to the heatpipes and the heat sinks, thereby achieving an objective of heatdissipation. The heat is conducted in an indirect manner, that is, firstthrough the fixing seat, and then the heat is transferred to the heatpipes and the heat sinks, so that the heat pipe heat dissipationapparatus has a low efficiency.

Therefore, after improvement an existing heat pipe heat dissipationapparatus of high efficient heat dissipation is designed that heat pipescontact with a heat dissipation portion of a semiconductor devicedirectly, heating segments on pipe bodies of the heat pipes form a flatheating surface, which can make a direct face to face contact with aheat dissipation area of a surface of the semiconductor device,exothermic segments are formed above the fixing seat, the heat sinkscontact with the exothermic segments of the heat pipes closely, and heatis transferred to air through the heat sinks, thereby achieving theobjective of heat dissipation. According to a binding manner of thefixing seat and the heat pipes, a bottom surface of the fixing seat isopened with a plurality of open rabbets matching the heat pipes, so thatthe heat pipes are inserted into the rabbets in a matched manner. Duringimplementation, a pressing tool is used to insert the heat pipes intothe rabbets by pressing the heat pipes flat, so that the heat pipes arecovered by the fixing seat in a half-exposed manner, and heatingsurfaces of the heat pipes are exposed at the bottom surface of thefixing seat. The heating surfaces directly contact with the heatdissipation portion of the semiconductor device, so that indirecttransfer for heat dissipation is not required, thereby achieving veryefficient heat dissipation.

In addition, the heat pipes and the fixing seat are made of differentmaterials, so that pretreatment of nickel plating is required beforewelding, which makes overall processing complex, increases cost, makesassembly inconvenient, and does not comply with requirements onenvironmental protection. Particularly, the fixing seat of the radiatoris made of a solid metal block, which not only is heavy and big, butalso consumes a large amount of metal and makes manufacturing cost high,so that some products already remove the fixing seat by directlycombining the heat pipes and the heat sinks to form heat dissipationapparatuses without seats.

However, no matter in a heat dissipation structure in which heat pipesare inserted into rabbets of a fixing seat or in a heat dissipationstructure in which heat pipes and heat sinks are combined, the followingproblems still exist during actual use. During combination of heat pipesand a fixing seat, the fixing seat or heat sinks are required to serveas a support, and then a pressing tool is used to press the heat pipesflat to insert the heat pipes into rabbets. Spacer bars are disposedbetween the rabbets, so that after being inserted into the rabbets in amatched manner the heat pipes are stably held and positioned by thespacer bars. Therefore, no matter which manufacturing process is used bya manufacturer to make the heating surfaces of the heat pipes be alignedwith the bottom surface of the fixing seat or combine the heatingsurfaces of the heat pipes and the heat sinks directly, the spacer barsare disposed to separate the heat pipes, so that the heating surfaces ofthe heat pipes cannot be concentrated. Under a trend of smaller volumeof the semiconductor device and smaller area of the heat source, thenumber of heat pipes on the limited area of the heat source is limitedseriously, which greatly affects an area by which the heating surfacesdirectly contact with a heat dissipation portion of the semiconductordevice, thereby causing undesired thermal conduction performance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, in order to eliminate the above defects, a major objective ofthe present invention is to provide a gapless heat pipe combinationstructure and a combination method thereof, so that heating segments ofheat pipes are bound more closely, each of the heat pipes can performwell, and an objective of making the heat pipes completely contact withan area of a heat source is achieved, thereby fully achieving thermalconduction performance and increasing heat dissipation efficiency.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a gapless heatpipe combination structure and a combination method thereof, so thatheating segments of heat pipes are bound more closely, more heat pipesare buried in a smaller width of a rabbet, and the number of the heatpipes contacting with an area of a heat source increases, thereby fullyachieving thermal conduction performance and increasing heat dissipationefficiency.

In order to achieve the above objectives, the present invention providesa gapless heat pipe combination structure, which comprises: a heatdissipation device, where a bottom surface of the heat dissipationdevice is formed into an open slot, a surface of the open slot isdisposed with a plurality of grooves, the heat dissipation device is afixing seat for heat dissipation or is formed by a plurality of heatsink fins arranged in parallel and adjacent to each other; an adhesivelayer, disposed on a surface of the grooves of the open slot; and aplurality of heat pipes, where the heat pipes have heating segments andexothermic segments, the exothermic segments extend from the open slotto the outside, side edges of the heating segments are arranged inparallel closely, received in the open slot, and adhered to the surfaceof the grooves closely through the adhesive layer respectively, and theheating segments are exposed at the open slot to form a plane heatingsurface.

A combination method of the present invention comprises: providing aheat dissipation device, where a bottom surface of the heat dissipationdevice is formed into an open slot, and a surface of the open slot isdisposed with a plurality of grooves; disposing an adhesive layer on asurface of the grooves of the open slot; and providing a plurality ofheat pipes, where the heat pipes have heating segments and exothermicsegments, the exothermic segments extend from the open slot to theoutside, side edges of the heating segments are arranged in parallelclosely, received in the open slot, and adhered to the surface of thegrooves closely through the adhesive layer respectively, the heatingsegments of the heat pipes are pressed flat at least once by a jig, andthe heating segments are exposed at the open slot to form a planeheating surface.

A jig is used to process two sides of the heating segments of the heatpipes, so that the heating segments get slimmer, and the side edges arearranged in parallel closely and are received in the open slot.

Advantages of the present invention are as follows. Heat pipes arearranged and combined closely, so that the gapless heat pipes arecombined with a heat dissipation device, no conventional spacer barexists between adjacent heating surfaces, spacing kept betweenconventional heat pipes is decreased dramatically, so that the heatingsurfaces of the heat pipes completely contact with an area of a heatsource, thereby fully achieving thermal conduction performance of eachof the heat pipes and improving overall thermal conduction performance.Accordingly, a jig is used to process two sides of the heating segmentsof the heat pipes, so that the heating segments get slimmer, and theside edges of the heating segments of the heat pipes are arranged inparallel closely and are received in the open slot. With the same areaof a heat dissipation portion of a semiconductor device, according tothe combination of the heat pipes of the present invention, more heatpipes can be buried in the same contact area, so that more heat pipescontact with a heat source, thereby improving the overall thermalconduction performance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given herein below for illustration only, and thusare not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic combination view of an embodiment according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded view of an embodiment according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic combination view of another embodiment accordingto the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic exploded view of another embodiment according tothe present invention;

FIGS. 5A to 5E are diagrams of combination steps according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a first schematic sectional view of grooves according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a second schematic sectional view of grooves according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a third schematic sectional view of grooves according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 9A to 9C are first schematic processing diagrams of heatingsegments of heat pipes according to the present invention;

FIGS. 10A to 10C are second schematic processing diagrams of heatingsegments of heat pipes according to the present invention;

FIGS. 11A to 11C are third schematic processing diagrams of heatingsegments of heat pipes according to the present invention;

FIGS. 12A to 12E are diagrams of combination steps according to anotherembodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 13 to 15 are schematic views of relative positions of a heatingsurface and an open slot according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Detailed contents and technical specifications of the present inventionare further illustrated below with reference to embodiments. It shouldbe understood that the embodiments are only for illustration, and arenot construed as a limit to implementation of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the present invention provides a gaplessheat pipe combination structure, which includes a heat dissipationdevice 100. As shown in the figures, the heat dissipation device 100 is,for example, a fixing seat for heat dissipation. The fixing seat may bemade of aluminum, copper, or a non-metallic material, and is usuallyrectangular. A bottom surface of the heat dissipation device 100 isformed into an open slot 110. A surface of the open slot 110 is disposedwith a plurality of grooves 120. An adhesive layer 200 is disposed onsurfaces of the grooves 120 of the open slot 110. The gapless heat pipecombination structure further includes a plurality of heat pipes 300. Inembodiments of the present invention, the number of the heat pipes 300is equal to or greater than 2, and in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 andFIG. 2 the number is 4. In implementation, the heat pipes 300 may beL-shaped, U-shaped, or of other shapes, and a capillary structure and aworking fluid are disposed in the heat pipes 300, so as to achieve arapid heat transfer effect by using a gas/liquid phase heat transfermechanism. The heat pipes 300 have heating segments 310 and exothermicsegments 320. The exothermic segments 320 extend from the open slot 110to the outside. Side edges of the heating segments 310 are arranged inparallel closely, received in the open slot 110, and adhered to thesurface of the grooves 120 closely through the adhesive layer 200respectively. The heating segments 310 are exposed at the open slot 110to form a plane heating surface 311.

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, in another embodiment, a heatdissipation device 400 is directly formed by a plurality of adjacentheat sink fins 410 in parallel, which is usually made of aluminum orcopper in implementation. Recessed portions 420 corresponding to eachother are formed on bottom sides of the heat sink fins 410, so that therecessed portions 420 are arranged in parallel and adjacent to eachother to form an open slot 430. Surfaces of the heat sink fins 410 areopened with a plurality of through holes 440 corresponding to eachother. The recessed portions 420 on the bottom sides of the heat sinkfins 410 are disposed with concave arcs 421, so that grooves 431 areformed on the open slot 430 formed by arranging the recessed portions420 in parallel and adjacent to each other.

Referring to FIGS. 5A to 5E, FIGS. 5A to 5E are diagrams of combinationsteps according to an embodiment of the present invention. A combinationmethod of the present invention is as follows. A heat dissipation device100 (for example a fixing seat in the figures) is provided, a bottomsurface of which is formed into an open slot 110, and a surface of theopen slot 110 is disposed with a plurality of grooves 120. An adhesivelayer 200 is disposed on surfaces of the grooves 120 of the open slot110 (as shown in FIG. 5A). Side edges of heating segments 310 of aplurality of heat pipes 300 are arranged to be in parallel closely (asshown in FIG. 5B). The heating segments 310 arranged in parallel closelyare received by the open slot 110, and adhered to the surfaces of thegrooves 120 closely through the adhesive layer 200 respectively (asshown in FIG. 5C). The heating segments 310 of the heat pipes 300 arepressed flat at least once by a jig 500 (as shown in FIG. 5D), so thatthe heating segments 310 are exposed at the open slot 110 to form aplane heating surface 311 (as shown in FIG. 5E). Using the jig 500 tothe heat pipes 300 flat is a prior art, which is not a focus of thepresent invention, and therefore is not repeated herein.

Referring to FIGS. 6 to 8, FIGS. 6 to 8 are schematic sectional views ofthe grooves in the open slot. In implementation, the grooves 120 in theopen slot 110 are arranged close to the heating segments 310 of the heatpipes 300 through the adhesive layer 200, so that a cross-sectionalshape of the grooves 120 in the open slot 110 corresponds to across-sectional shape of the heating segments 310. A section of thegrooves 120 may be in the shape of an arc (as shown in FIG. 6), in theshape of a small tooth (as shown in FIG. 7), in the shape of a big tooth(as shown in FIG. 8), or in the shape of a polygon. The shape of polygonis an implementation of a different shape of the grooves 120 in the openslot 110, and is not repeated herein.

Refer to FIG. 9A to FIG. 9C, FIG. 10A to FIG. 10C, and FIG. 11A to FIG.11C, which are schematic processing diagrams of heating segments of heatpipes according to the present invention. Furthermore for the heat pipes300, a jig is used to process two sides of the heating segments 310, sothat the heating segments 310 get slimmer, and the side edges arearranged in parallel closely and are received in the open slot 110.During implementation, the cross-sectional shape of the heating segments310 corresponds to the cross-sectional shape of the grooves 120 in theopen slot 110. Two sides of the heating segments 310 of the heat pipes300 are processed by a jig 600, so that the section of the heatingsegments 310 is in the shape of a quadrilateral (as shown in FIGS. 9A to9C), which is applied in a case in which the section of the grooves 120in the open slot 110 is in the shape of an arc (as shown in FIG. 6). Or,two sides and portions above the two sides of the heating segments 310of the heat pipes 300 are processed by the jig 600, so that the sectionof the heating segments 310 is in the shape of a pentagon (as shown inFIGS. 10A to 10C), which is applied in a case in which the section ofthe grooves 120 in the open slot 110 is in the shape of a small tooth(as shown in FIG. 7). Or, portions above two sides of the heatingsegments 310 of the heat pipes 300 are processed by the jig 600, so thatthe section of the heating segments 310 is in the shape of a triangle(as shown in FIGS. 11A to 11C), which is applied in a case in which thesection of the grooves 120 in the open slot 110 is in the shape of a bigtooth (as shown in FIG. 8).

Referring to FIGS. 12A to 12E, FIGS. 12A to 12E are diagrams ofcombination steps according to another embodiment of the presentinvention. A combination method of a heat conducting pipe 30 afterprocessing is the same as above and is as follows. A heat dissipationdevice 100 (for example a fixing seat in the figures) is provided, abottom surface of which is formed into an open slot 110, and a surfaceof the open slot 110 is disposed with a plurality of grooves 120 (forexample a section of the grooves 120 is in the shape of an arc). Anadhesive layer 200 is disposed on surfaces of the grooves 120 of theopen slot 110 (as shown in FIG. 12A). Side edges of heating segments 310after being processed by a jig 600 are arranged to be in parallelclosely, and for example, a section of the heating segments 310 in thefigure is in the shape of a quadrilateral (as shown in FIG. 12B). Theheating segments 310 arranged in parallel closely are received by theopen slot 110, and adhered to the surfaces of the grooves 120 closelythrough the adhesive layer 200 respectively (as shown in FIG. 12C). Theheating segments 310 of the heat pipes 300 are pressed flat at leastonce by a jig 500 (as shown in FIG. 12D), so that the heating segments310 are exposed at the open slot 110 to form a plane heating surface 311(as shown in FIG. 12E).

Furthermore, the jig 600 is used to process two sides of the heatingsegments of the heat pipes 300, so that the heating segments 310 getslimmer, and the side edges are arranged in parallel closely and arereceived in the open slot 110. With the same area of a heat dissipationportion of a semiconductor device, according to the combination of theheat pipes 300 of the present invention, more heat pipes can be buriedin the same contact area, so that more heat pipes 300 contact with aheat source, thereby improving overall thermal conduction performance.

Referring to FIGS. 13 to 15, and FIGS. 13 to 15 are schematic views ofrelative positions of the heating surface 311 and the open slot 110.During implementation, exothermic segments 320 extend from the open slot110 to the outside of the open slot 110 of the heat dissipation device100, the heating segments 310 are arranged in parallel closely andreceived in the open slot 110, and the heating segments 310 are exposedat the open slot 110 to form the plane heating surface 311. Duringimplementation, a semiconductor device 700 has various applicationmanners. The adjacent and closely arranged heating surfaces 311 may bealigned with the side edges of the open slot 110 of the heat dissipationdevice 100, and the heating surfaces 311 attach to the semiconductordevice 700. Or, the heating surfaces 311 of the heating segments 310protrude from the side edges of the open slot 110, and the heatingsurfaces 311 attach a heating portion of the semiconductor device 700.Or, the heating surfaces 311 of the heating segments 310 are recessed inthe open slot 110, and the semiconductor device 700 still attaches theheating surfaces 311 in the open slot 110.

What is described in the foregoing is only an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention, and definitely is not intended to limit the scopeof the present invention, that is, all simple equivalent changes andmodifications made according to the claims or the summary of the presentinvention fall within the scope of the present invention.

1. A gapless heat pipe combination structure, comprising: a heatdissipation device, wherein a bottom surface of the heat dissipationdevice is formed into an open slot, and a surface of the open slot isdisposed with a plurality of grooves; an adhesive layer, disposed on asurface of the grooves of the open slot; and a plurality of heat pipes,wherein the heat pipes have heating segments and exothermic segments,the exothermic segments extend from the open slot to the outside, sideedges of the heating segments are arranged in parallel closely, receivedin the open slot, and adhered to the surface of the grooves closelythrough the adhesive layer respectively, and the heating segments areexposed at the open slot to form a plane heating surface.
 2. The gaplessheat pipe combination structure according to claim 1, wherein the heatdissipation device is a fixing seat for heat dissipation.
 3. The gaplessheat pipe combination structure according to claim 1, wherein the heatdissipation device is formed by a plurality of heat sink fins arrangedin parallel and adjacent to each other, recessed portions correspondingto each other are formed on bottom sides of the heat sink fins, and therecessed portions are arranged in parallel and adjacent to each other toform the open slot.
 4. The gapless heat pipe combination structureaccording to claim 1, wherein a cross-sectional shape of the grooves inthe open slot corresponds to a cross-sectional shape of the heatingsegments.
 5. The gapless heat pipe combination structure according toclaim 1, wherein the heating surface of the heating segments is alignedwith the side edges of the open slot.
 6. The gapless heat pipecombination structure according to claim 1, wherein the heating surfaceof the heating segments protrudes from the side edges of the open slot.7. The gapless heat pipe combination structure according to claim 1,wherein the heating surface of the heating segments is recessed in theopen slot.
 8. A combination method of gapless heat pipes, comprising:providing a heat dissipation device, wherein a bottom surface of theheat dissipation device is formed into an open slot, and a surface ofthe open slot is disposed with a plurality of grooves; disposing anadhesive layer on a surface of the grooves of the open slot; andproviding a plurality of heat pipes, wherein the heat pipes have heatingsegments and exothermic segments, the exothermic segments extend fromthe open slot to outside, side edges of the heating segments arearranged in parallel closely, received in the open slot, and adhered tothe surface of the grooves closely through the adhesive layerrespectively, the heating segments of the heat pipes are pressed flat atleast once by a jig, and the heating segments are exposed at the openslot to form a plane heating surface.
 9. The combination method ofgapless heat pipes according to claim 8, wherein the heat dissipationdevice is a fixing seat for heat dissipation.
 10. The combination methodof gapless heat pipes according to claim 8, wherein the heat dissipationdevice is formed by a plurality of heat sink fins arranged in paralleland adjacent to each other, recessed portions corresponding to eachother are formed on bottom sides of the heat sink fins, and the recessedportions are arranged in parallel and adjacent to each other to form theopen slot.
 11. The combination method of gapless heat pipes according toclaim 8, wherein a cross-sectional shape of the grooves in the open slotcorresponds to a cross-sectional shape of the heating segments.
 12. Thecombination method of gapless heat pipes according to claim 8, whereinthe jig is used to process two sides of the heating segments of the heatpipes, so that the heating segments get slimmer, and the side edges arearranged in parallel closely and are received in the open slot.
 13. Thecombination method of gapless heat pipes according to claim 12, whereina cross-sectional shape of the heating segments corresponds to across-sectional shape of the grooves in the open slot.